Brigade Electronics, a road safety technology company, has joined forces with RoadPeace to support the CLOCS scheme to reduce deaths caused by construction vehicles.
Increasingly construction vehicles have been involved in severe and fatal collisions with vulnerable road users. An estimated 28,325 people were injured or killed by construction vehicle-related incidents over the past five years.
The Construction Logistics and Community Safety (CLOCS) scheme aims to decrease this alarming statistic by encouraging stakeholders in the construction industry to follow a national safety standard.
The RoadPeace charity was established to support and carry out justice for individuals bereaved due to road crashes. ‘It is fantastic to see our corporate partners Brigade support CLOCS. Commitment from the industry is needed if we will effectively tackle the unacceptable number of people killed and seriously injured by construction vehicles,’ commented Nick Simmons, CEO of RoadPeace.
Addressing this sensitive and preventable issue becomes increasingly critical as government walking, and cycling schemes are being implemented, catalysed by coronavirus lockdown measures.
As the government invests in active travel, they pose a particular risk to people walking and cycling,’ Simmons highlighted.
Road safety expert Emily Hardy at Brigade Electronics explained: ‘CLOCS has become even more vital as the number of pedestrians and cyclists on Britain’s roads is set to spike because of the Government’s £2 billion ‘Better Health campaign to tackle the UK’s growing obesity epidemic.’
The scheme underlines that an increase in active travel will inevitably lead to a more significant proportion of accidents if this issue continues to go unchecked and unregulated. ‘Brigade is calling on local authorities across the UK to embed CLOCS in their vehicle safety policies to reduce death and injury on roads,’ Hardy concluded.
Derek Rees, the CLOCS Programme Director, said: ‘CLOCS Champions like Brigade (and RoadPeace) make a critical contribution to communicating why the construction industry needs to implement higher safety standards. Together we need to motivate more regulators, construction clients, principal contractors, their supply chains and fleet operators to become CLOCS Champions because when the CLOCS Standard becomes ‘business as usual’ we will all be achieving the safest construction vehicle journeys.’
Emily Hardy made a final point about London’s DVS (Direct Vision Standard) legislation imposed by Transport for London, requiring all goods vehicles over 12 tonnes to have a permit in place to be able to drive into Greater London.
DVS is a ‘star rating’ that measures direct vision, the extent a driver can see from the cab to other road users, which is intended to protect vulnerable road users such as active travellers.
However, whilst DVS is an initiative that protects London roads, Brigade, RoadPeace, and CLOCS have specified that they aim to prevent incidents throughout the UK.
